Trump’s 2nd Week: Confusion for Fed Workers, Programs
- Trump has issued a variety of government orders and steerage impacting the federal workforce.
- An order to freeze federal funds and grants that was later rescinded sparked confusion throughout companies.
- Federal staff have additionally been grappling with the RTO mandate and buyout provides.
The second week of President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign to cut government waste left uncertainty round what jobs and packages the federal authorities will proceed to assist.
Despite the White House rescinding its temporary freeze on federal grants and loans, the handfuls of organizations Business Insider contacted this week have been struggling to make sense of the way forward for their funding.
Additionally, the federal staff who administer these packages are coping with Trump’s “deferred resignation” offer and a return-to-office mandate.
The White House stated it has been clear in its directives.
“The executive orders issued by the president on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in a Wednesday assertion. She stated in a separate assertion on the buyouts that if federal staff do not wish to return to the workplace, “then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of 8 months.”
Fallout of the funding freeze
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth informed BI that organizations in her state of Illinois are nonetheless reeling from the White House’s short-lived freeze on federal grants and loans.
Food pantries have informed her that they are nonetheless fearful they will not be capable of entry funding, and a nonprofit that serves homeless youth stated the order “turned their organization upside down.”
“These are real-world consequences,” Duckworth stated. “Right now, we’re just in a mode of trying to get information out to folks, but also communicating with them that this is not over yet.”
On Monday night time, the Office of Management and Budget launched a memo ordering federal companies to “temporarily pause” some federal grants and loans. One day later, OMB rescinded the memo after a federal choose paused it whereas she thought-about a lawsuit introduced by a bunch of nonprofits.
However, the White House’s Leavitt later wrote in a submit on X that Trump’s earlier government orders aiming to finish funding for federal DEI packages and a few of former President Joe Biden’s environmental initiatives have been nonetheless in impact.
“What I think she’s trying to say is, ‘Hey, we’re still going ahead with what we said we’d do on day one,'” Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal finances coverage on the left-leaning think-tank Center for American Progress, informed BI.
Some federal staff previously told BI that the OMB memo brought about chaos inside their companies. One FEMA employee stated they have been making an attempt to get help out the door as shortly as attainable, and an SBA employee stated that “the general chaos is grinding things to a halt as people don’t know what is going to come next.”
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley defended the funding freeze, saying: “I think the president has every right to review the terms on which federal funding grants are dispersed, how they’re being dispersed, where they’re going, which is what I think they’re doing here.” GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, in the meantime, requested for a “game plan,” telling reporters that he wished to “give people back home some idea of what to expect.”
Even with the memo rescinded, Duckworth stated she expects “long-term negative effects.”
“Even if it gets resolved in the next 48 hours, it won’t be resolved in the minds of people in the business community and in the not-for-profit community for a very long time,” Duckworth stated.
Confusion amongst federal staff
At the identical time, many staff are grappling with Trump’s return-to-office mandate and federal buyout provide.
Agencies are nonetheless crafting plans for staff who’ve been working remotely, some removed from federal workplaces, and the uncertainty is making it troublesome for some staff to plan. Others, nevertheless, beforehand informed BI they see worth in working in particular person and are keen to make the adjustment.
In addition, the Office of Personnel Management despatched an e-mail to tens of millions of federal staff on Tuesday providing them a “deferred resignation,” through which staff may elect to resign earlier than February 6 and obtain their pay and advantages by September 30.
Federal staff were hesitant to take up that offer. One employee informed BI that Trump’s provide is “unpatriotic that he’s trying to put people out of work or provide incentives for people to leave their stable jobs.”
Some union leaders urged them to reject the deal. The American Federation of Government Employees, the most important union for federal staff, wrote in an FAQ on the deferred resignations that the OPM’s e-mail was “riddled with inconsistencies and uncertainties.”
These shifts characterize Trump’s plans to overtake the federal authorities, and he has stated he’ll proceed pursuing avenues to chop authorities spending.
Are you a federal employee, or do you could have a tip to share? Reach out to this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com or contact her securely on Signal on the username asheffey.97.